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Tag: Specialist

RCVS VN council election manifesto: Samantha Thompson RVN

SAMANTHA THOMPSON RVN

Wards supervisor at North Downs Specialist Referrals (NDSR), Surrey

T: 07736 736341

E: samantha@thompson.co.za

Summerleaze Veterinary Hospital in Maidenhead was where Samantha gained her NVQ in veterinary nursing in 2009.

Shortly afterwards, she began working at North Downs Specialist Referrals (NDSR), where she achieved her Graduate Diploma in Professional and Clinical Veterinary Nursing from the RVC. After four years at NDSR, Samantha had a brief spell at Moor Cottage Veterinary Hospital in Bracknell before taking the medicine nurse team leader role at Chester Gates Referral Hospital. After a year she moved back to Kent and took up the wards supervisor job at NDSR. She also teaches the Diploma in Veterinary Nursing at Hadlow College.

Why is she standing?

“Exciting” and “dynamic” are the two words Samantha uses to describe the veterinary nursing profession right now, with VNs being seen “more and more as professionals in [their] own right”. “I hope this is only going to get better,” she said.

Samantha also says she would bring “enthusiasm and dedication” to the council, as well as her passion of educating student nurses.

“I always strive to improve my knowledge and nursing skills and have the drive and determination to help mould the profession moving forward,” she said. “I have been privileged to work with a number of amazing nurses and I would like the profession to get the recognition it deserves. I believe it is moving in the right direction with lots of exciting changes on the way, but I cannot imagine a better time to get involved with the profession’s future.”

Another challenge she’s ready for, says Samantha, is the role of RVNs within practice.

“As the qualification and further qualifications increase in skill level, it would be rewarding to see this acknowledged with further delegation to RVNs,” she said.

Hustings highlights

Samantha said she is standing for VN council because, “like a lot of people”, she was not sure “what the council did” and “wanted to play a more active role in the decision-making process of the profession I feel passionately and strongly about”.

As a teacher, it was all about education in Samantha’s video.

“I think our pre-registration education possibly needs reviewing,” she said. “Training placements are scarce and quite hard to find, and this is something we need to work on with employers and course providers to improve for nurses who want to train in the future. On post-registration education… I think RVNs really need to see the value of CPD and I think it should be something that should be undertaken and enjoyed and something we should be able to use in the future.”

March 24, 2016
RCVS VN council election manifesto: Racheal Marshall RVN

RACHEAL MARSHALL RVN

Head of clinical nursing, Vets Now

T: 07860 924759

E: racheal.marshall@vets-now.com

Racheal qualified as a VN in 2003 and worked in a busy mixed practice for three years, progressing to a senior nurse position.

After that, she worked as a lecturer in veterinary nursing and animal management at York’s Askham Bryan College. She returned to clinical work in 2008, joining emergency and critical care specialists Vets Now, where she has been ever since.

At Vets Now, she started as an RVN in one of the clinics before becoming a senior nurse. She then became a district manager before taking up her current position in 2014. As head of clinical nursing, Racheal is responsible for driving and ensuring consistent nursing standards across the company.

Why is she standing?

Despite veterinary nursing coming a “long way” in the 12 years since Racheal qualified, the emergency and critical care specialist believes there are still “battles to be fought” to ensure the RVN is “fully recognised and appreciated”.

“I wish to use this opportunity to work for greater understanding and clarity of the VN role to allow our wide range of skills and experience to be recognised and valued,” she said. “[I also want to] help empower nurses with career progression so they can reach their full potential working alongside vets.”

Racheal believes her working background has given her a lot of experience in practice and leadership, giving her good understanding of the inner workings of business, which helps her “understand the challenges we face and be able to consider these from all angles”.

“Veterinary nurses are a valued and essential part of the veterinary team, and to enable our profession to continue to grow and evolve, we need to ensure we speak out and continue to be heard,” she said.

“I would consider it an honour and a privilege to be your voice on VN council and will work to ensure the voices of all RVNs
are heard – whatever career stage you are at or pathway you have taken.”

Hustings highlights

Racheal discussed issues of retention of VNs within practice in her video.

“This year almost 500 nurses have been removed from the register, and this is at a time when employers are struggling to recruit RVNs,” she said. “My aim would be every veterinary practice only employed RVNs, but if we haven’t got the number of nurses out there, this isn’t going to be possible.”

She said she also feels veterinary nurses have the right to undertake additional skills post-qualifying as “we’ve all worked hard to achieve our qualifications and should be able to use all of the skills and knowledge we have to be able to work to our full potential”.

March 24, 2016
RCVS council election manifesto: Christopher ‘Kit’ Sturgess
CHRISTOPHER ‘KIT’ STURGESS

MA, VetMB, PhD, CertVR, CertVC, DSAM, MRCVS

39 New Forest Drive, Brockenhurst, Hampshire SO42 7QT.

T 01590 623033

M 07974 017303

E kit@vetfreedom.com

PROPOSERS: Rob Lowe, Gerry Polton

I qualified from the University of Cambridge in 1986 and spent six years in first-opinion practice, moving from mixed through equine to 100 per cent small animals. During this time, I gained my certificate in radiology.

My desire to “know more” brought me back to university where I spent the next 10 years at the University of Bristol and the RVC gaining my PhD, certificate in cardiology and diploma in small animal medicine.

Following a brief period in industry, I worked in private referral practice for seven years. During this time, I set up a small animal referral centre that rapidly expanded year on year to meet the demand for the service we provided from general practitioners.

Since 2012, I have been 60 per cent clinical work, allowing more time to spend with my young family and pursue my other interests within the veterinary profession, particularly education and support for general practitioners through the RCVS council, the BSAVA, supporting candidates for the newer modular certificate, responding to case enquiries and providing CPD.

I am an RCVS recognised specialist in small animal medicine and an advanced practitioner in veterinary cardiology. I have lectured worldwide to the complete spectrum of the veterinary profession, as well as writing peer-reviewed articles and textbooks.

Manifesto

Working with the RCVS council and staff over the past three years, I have encountered a dedicated, fascinating and rewarding group of people with a vast range of different skills, experience and knowledge.

On council, my main focus has been on education, particularly developing and launching the advanced practitioner status. This has been very successful and will prove a major force in bringing clarity to further professional qualifications. Beyond this, the Vet Futures and the Mind Matters Initiative are exciting projects and I am keen to continue to be involved. With my broad background and experience of most areas of the profession, I feel I can bring a valuable perspective to these discussions.

Since qualifying 30 years ago, the profession has changed hugely and this rate of change is increasing as new technologies and ways of communicating become available in a 24/7 world. The RCVS has adopted a forward-looking, proactive strategy I would like to support and help develop, ensuring there remains focus on a number of key elements that are core to the profession:
- Communicating our skills as veterinary surgeons and scientists to the general public and government.
- Maintaining robust, lifelong learning through achievable further professional qualifications and outcome-based CPD.
- Promoting the health and welfare of the veterinary profession as a whole, so it remains vigorous and vibrant and continues to attract great people to work in it.
- Ensuring governance of the RCVS continues to develop so it is transparent, accessible, relevant and responsive to our current, rapidly changing world.
My CV clearly shows I have broad experience of the profession and have retained strong links with general practice. Allied to this, I understand the needs of veterinary education, research and business as well as the importance of good governance and forward planning.
March 24, 2016
RCVS council election manifesto: Cheryl Scudamore

CHERYL SCUDAMORE

BVSc, PhD, FHEA, FRCPath, FRCVS

Mary Lyon Centre, MRC Harwell, Harwell Campus, Didcot OX11 0RD.

T 01235 841017

M 07714 484522

E c.scudamore@har.mrc.ac.uk

PROPOSERS: Nicky Paull, Susan Rhind

I graduated from the University of Liverpool in 1988 and completed a PhD at the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen. I continued my research interests and pathology training at the University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, becoming a senior lecturer in veterinary pathology.

Pursuing an interest in human health research, I moved to the pharmaceutical industry in 2001 to work as a pathologist in the safety assessment of new medicines and managing a large technical team. While in industry, I maintained strong academic links, with particular interests in transferring technical skills between industry and academia, and encouraging vets to explore alternative career options.

In recognition of these interests, I was awarded an Medical Research Council (MRC) skills gap grant, moving back to the RVC in 2009 and on to my current role as pathologist at MRC Harwell in 2012. I am an RCVS recognised specialist in veterinary pathology and hold visiting chairs at RVC and the University of Surrey.

I have experience of serving on and chairing professional committees. I was part of the stakeholder group for the Vet Futures project and chair the Royal College of Pathologists’ specialty advisory committee for veterinary pathology.

Manifesto

The profession is undergoing modernisation and facing challenges that require new ideas to resolve. Key to development and innovation in any profession is the cultivation of diversity. Diversity includes the individuals within the profession, working practices and career pathways.

Increasing diversity means, firstly, looking at our student intake, working with schools and aiming to attract a better balance of applicants that reflect our society today and will make resilient vets.

A veterinary education provides a great starting point for a variety of potential career pathways. The Vet Futures project has shown the RCVS and the BVA recognise different career options are important for individuals and the professions. We need to build on this project to ensure graduates are prepared for different roles, practice and non-practice career paths are equally valued, career paths are signposted and people are supported throughout development in their chosen career.

Mental health is another pressing issue for our profession and ensuring a satisfying career choice, with manageable levels of stress, are essentials for good mental health. We need to develop career pathways within the profession that offer progression and working practices that accept a good work-life balance is essential, not just desirable. We need to find ways to support vets through their early years and as they develop greater responsibilities later in their career.

Diversity in the profession means having a range of resilient veterinary graduates able proactively to engage with a range of different career options and to adapt to changes in the external environment. Having worked in the university, research institutes and pharmaceutical industry as a lecturer, mentor, careers advisor, researcher and manager, I believe I have a range of skills and experience to contribute to the debate in these crucial areas.

March 24, 2016
Quick cytology preps for assessing skin microbial flora

Does full immersion make your tape strips hard to examine? Image ©iStock.com/BanksPhotos

One of the pleasures of having completed my dermatology certificate is that I get to peer down a microscope at cytology preps a fair amount.

Now, if you’re anything like me, you’ll have become frustrated with Diff-Quik preps (particularly if you are using tape strips and all three solutions) as the strip becomes soggy and opaque, making it hard to examine.

A handy tip I learned from a specialist dermatologist working in the States was to just use the blue/purple stain, pop a drop onto a slide and then stick your strip over the liquid and slide. Leave this a few minutes and examine as usual.

This is quick and allows easy identification of cocci and yeast microorganisms under the microscope.

However if it’s cells you’re interested in – in, say, suspected cases of pustular disease – I’d suggest you still go through the full staining process.

May 11, 2015